Philippines, Thailand Face Serious Health Problems Due to Water Contamination

Thousands of people in rural Thailand and the Philippines face
serious health problems from drinking water contaminated with nitrates, a report by the environmental group Greenpeace said Thursday.

Philippines, Thailand Face Serious Health Problems Due to Water Contamination

The study released in Bangkok and Manila said intensive agricultural practices and excessive use of nitrogen fertilisers had polluted artesian wells used for drinking water.

Greenpeace said it sampled water from 30 percent of all groundwater wells from both countries and found nitrate levels above the World Health Organisation's safety limit.

The report said contamination was greatest in those areas that used large quantities of nitrogen fertilisers.

It said the greatest risk of nitrate poisoning was "blue baby syndrome", which occurs in infants given nitrate-laden water, and particularly affects babies under four months. It can cause headaches, stupor, fatigue, coma, convulsions, asphyxia and even death, the report said.

Nitrate-contaminated drinking water can also potentially lead to cancers of the digestive tract and has been associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as well as bladder and ovarian cancer, it added.

"Communities think that the water they drink every day is clean because physically, it doesn't smell bad or look bad. But it is actually laced with nitrates from fertilisers which people don't normally associate with pollution," Greenpeace campaigner Daniel Ocampo said in a statement.

"This report shows that unless governments implement policies to ensure the proper use and application of fertilisers in agriculture, we will lose more of our valuable water resources.

Ocampo called for fertiliser subsidies to be phased out and reduced use of the chemicals.

Your comments are automatically posted once they are submitted. All comments are however constantly reviewed for spam and irrelevant material (such as product or personal advertisements, email addresses, telephone numbers and website address). Such insertions do not conform to our policy and 'Terms of Use' and are either deleted or edited and republished.Please keep your comments brief and relevant.This section may also have questions seeking help. If you have the information you are welcome to respond, but please ensure that the information so provided is genuine and not misleading.

Disclaimer - All information and content on this site are for information and educational purposes only. The information should not be used for either diagnosis or treatment or both for any health related problem or disease. Always seek the advice of a qualified physician for medical diagnosis and treatment.Full Disclaimer